Topological property

In topology and related areas of

mathematics, a topological property or
topological invariant is a property of a
topological space which is invariant under
homeomorphisms. That is, a property of
spaces is a topological property if
whenever a space X possesses that
property every space homeomorphic to X
possesses that property. Informally, a
topological property is a property of the
space that can be expressed using open
sets.

A common problem in topology is to

decide whether two topological spaces are
homeomorphic or not. To prove that two
spaces are not homeomorphic, it is
sufficient to find a topological property
which is not shared by them.

Common topological
properties
Cardinal functions

The cardinality |X| of the space X.

The cardinality τ(X) of the topology of
the space X.
Weight w(X), the least cardinality of a
basis of the topology of the space X.
Density d(X), the least cardinality of a
subset of X whose closure is X.

Separation

Note that some of these terms are defined

differently in older mathematical literature;
see history of the separation axioms.
T0 or Kolmogorov. A space is
Kolmogorov if for every pair of distinct
points x and y in the space, there is at
least either an open set containing x but
not y, or an open set containing y but not
x.
T1 or Fréchet. A space is Fréchet if for
every pair of distinct points x and y in
the space, there is an open set
containing x but not y. (Compare with
T0; here, we are allowed to specify which
point will be contained in the open set.)
Equivalently, a space is T1 if all its
singletons are closed. T1 spaces are
always T0.
Sober. A space is sober if every
irreducible closed set C has a unique
generic point p. In other words, if C is
not the (possibly nondisjoint) union of
two smaller closed subsets, then there
is a p such that the closure of {p} equals
C, and p is the only point with this
property.
T2 or Hausdorff. A space is Hausdorff if
every two distinct points have disjoint
neighbourhoods. T2 spaces are always
T1.
T2½ or Urysohn. A space is Urysohn if
every two distinct points have disjoint
closed neighbourhoods. T2½ spaces are
always T2.
Completely T2 or completely Hausdorff.
A space is completely T2 if every two
distinct points are separated by a
function. Every completely Hausdorff
space is Urysohn.
Regular. A space is regular if whenever
C is a closed set and p is a point not in
C, then C and p have disjoint
neighbourhoods.
T3 or Regular Hausdorff. A space is
regular Hausdorff if it is a regular T0
space. (A regular space is Hausdorff if
and only if it is T0, so the terminology is
consistent.)
Completely regular. A space is
completely regular if whenever C is a
closed set and p is a point not in C, then
C and {p} are separated by a function.
T3½, Tychonoff, Completely regular
Hausdorff or Completely T3. A
Tychonoff space is a completely regular
T0 space. (A completely regular space is
Hausdorff if and only if it is T0, so the
terminology is consistent.) Tychonoff
spaces are always regular Hausdorff.
Normal. A space is normal if any two
disjoint closed sets have disjoint
neighbourhoods. Normal spaces admit
partitions of unity.
T4 or Normal Hausdorff. A normal
space is Hausdorff if and only if it is T1.
Normal Hausdorff spaces are always
Tychonoff.
Completely normal. A space is
completely normal if any two separated
sets have disjoint neighbourhoods.
T5 or Completely normal Hausdorff. A
completely normal space is Hausdorff if
and only if it is T1. Completely normal
Hausdorff spaces are always normal
Hausdorff.
Perfectly normal. A space is perfectly
normal if any two disjoint closed sets
are precisely separated by a function. A
perfectly normal space must also be
completely normal.
T6 or Perfectly normal Hausdorff, or
perfectly T4. A space is perfectly normal
Hausdorff, if it is both perfectly normal
and T1. A perfectly normal Hausdorff
 space must also be completely normal
Hausdorff.
Discrete space. A space is discrete if all
of its points are completely isolated, i.e.
if any subset is open.

Countability conditions

Separable. A space is separable if it has

a countable dense subset.
First-countable. A space is first-
countable if every point has a countable
local base.
Second-countable. A space is second-
countable if it has a countable base for
 its topology. Second-countable spaces
are always separable, first-countable
and Lindelöf.

Connectedness

Connected. A space is connected if it is

not the union of a pair of disjoint non-
empty open sets. Equivalently, a space
is connected if the only clopen sets are
the empty set and itself.
Locally connected. A space is locally
connected if every point has a local
base consisting of connected sets.
Totally disconnected. A space is totally
disconnected if it has no connected
subset with more than one point.
Path-connected. A space X is path-
connected if for every two points x, y in
X, there is a path p from x to y, i.e., a
continuous map p: [0,1] → X with p(0) =
x and p(1) = y. Path-connected spaces
are always connected.
Locally path-connected. A space is
locally path-connected if every point has
a local base consisting of path-
connected sets. A locally path-
connected space is connected if and
only if it is path-connected.
Simply connected. A space X is simply
connected if it is path-connected and
every continuous map f: S1 → X is
homotopic to a constant map.
Locally simply connected. A space X is
locally simply connected if every point x
in X has a local base of neighborhoods
U that is simply connected.
Semi-locally simply connected. A space
X is semi-locally simply connected if
every point has a local base of
neighborhoods U such that every loop in
U is contractible in X. Semi-local simple
connectivity, a strictly weaker condition
than local simple connectivity, is a
necessary condition for the existence of
a universal cover.
Contractible. A space X is contractible if
the identity map on X is homotopic to a
constant map. Contractible spaces are
always simply connected.
Hyper-connected. A space is hyper-
connected if no two non-empty open
sets are disjoint. Every hyper-connected
space is connected.
 Ultra-connected. A space is ultra-
connected if no two non-empty closed
sets are disjoint. Every ultra-connected
space is path-connected.
Indiscrete or trivial. A space is
indiscrete if the only open sets are the
empty set and itself. Such a space is
said to have the trivial topology.

Compactness

Compact. A space is compact if every

open cover has a finite subcover. Some
authors call these spaces quasicompact
and reserve compact for Hausdorff
spaces where every open cover has
finite subcover. Compact spaces are
always Lindelöf and paracompact.
Compact Hausdorff spaces are
therefore normal.
Sequentially compact. A space is
sequentially compact if every sequence
has a convergent subsequence.
Countably compact. A space is
countably compact if every countable
open cover has a finite subcover.
Pseudocompact. A space is
pseudocompact if every continuous
real-valued function on the space is
bounded.
σ-compact. A space is σ-compact if it is
the union of countably many compact
subsets.
Lindelöf. A space is Lindelöf if every
open cover has a countable subcover.
Paracompact. A space is paracompact
if every open cover has an open locally
finite refinement. Paracompact
Hausdorff spaces are normal.
Locally compact. A space is locally
compact if every point has a local base
 consisting of compact neighbourhoods.
Slightly different definitions are also
used. Locally compact Hausdorff
spaces are always Tychonoff.
Ultraconnected compact. In an ultra-
connected compact space X every open
cover must contain X itself. Non-empty
ultra-connected compact spaces have a
largest proper open subset called a
monolith.

Metrizability

Metrizable. A space is metrizable if it is

homeomorphic to a metric space.
Metrizable spaces are always Hausdorff
and paracompact (and hence normal
and Tychonoff), and first-countable.
Moreover a topological space (X,T) is
said to be metrizable if there exists a
metric for X such that the metric
topology T(d) is identical with the
topology T.
Polish. A space is called Polish if it is
metrizable with a separable and
complete metric.
Locally metrizable. A space is locally
metrizable if every point has a
metrizable neighbourhood.
Miscellaneous

Baire space. A space X is a Baire space

if it is not meagre in itself. Equivalently,
X is a Baire space if the intersection of
countably many dense open sets is
dense.
Topological Homogeneity. A space X is
(topologically) homogeneous if for every
x and y in X there is a homeomorphism
f : X → X such that f(x) = y. Intuitively
speaking, this means that the space
looks the same at every point. All
topological groups are homogeneous.
Finitely generated or Alexandrov. A
space X is Alexandrov if arbitrary
intersections of open sets in X are open,
or equivalently if arbitrary unions of
closed sets are closed. These are
precisely the finitely generated members
of the category of topological spaces
and continuous maps.
Zero-dimensional. A space is zero-
dimensional if it has a base of clopen
sets. These are precisely the spaces
with a small inductive dimension of 0.
Almost discrete. A space is almost
discrete if every open set is closed
(hence clopen). The almost discrete
spaces are precisely the finitely
generated zero-dimensional spaces.
Boolean. A space is Boolean if it is zero-
dimensional, compact and Hausdorff
(equivalently, totally disconnected,
compact and Hausdorff). These are
precisely the spaces that are
homeomorphic to the Stone spaces of
Boolean algebras.
Reidemeister torsion
  -resolvable. A space is said to be κ-
resolvable[1] (respectively: almost κ-
resolvable) if it contains κ dense sets
that are pairwise disjoint (respectively:
almost disjoint over the ideal of nowhere
dense subsets). If the space is not   -
resolvable then it is called   -
irresolvable.
Maximally resolvable. Space   is
maximally resolvable if it is   -
resolvable, where
 
. Number   is called dispersion
character of   .
Strongly discrete. Set   is strongly
discrete subset of the space   if the
points in   may be separated by
 pairwise disjoint neighborhoods. Space
  is said to be strongly discrete if every
non-isolated point of   is the
accumulation point of some strongly
discrete set.

See also
This article is in list format, but may read better
as prose. Learn more

Euler characteristic
Winding number
Characteristic class
Characteristic numbers
Chern class
 Knot invariant
Linking number
Fixed point property
Topological quantum number
Homotopy group and Cohomotopy
group
Homology and cohomology
Quantum invariant

References
1. Juhász, István; Soukup, Lajos;
Szentmiklóssy, Zoltán (2008).
"Resolvability and monotone
 normality". Israel Journal of
Mathematics. 166 (1): 1–16.
arXiv:math/0609092 .
doi:10.1007/s11856-008-1017-y .
ISSN 0021-2172 .

Bibliography
Willard, Stephen (1970). General
topology . Reading, Mass.: Addison-
Wesley Pub. Co. p. 369.
ISBN 9780486434797.

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